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Sunday, March 20, 2005

Students' ideas take shape from Troy to Plymouth

Metro teens add their voices to boards and councils

By Amy Lee / The Detroit News

Getting involved

Several communities in recent years have placed teens on municipal boards to get a younger perspective on everything from city growth to libraries to historic preservation. Some cities also have youth councils, which are boards made up entirely of kids 18 and younger. Teens interested in serving their community on boards and commissions can contact the following officials to find out more.

Birmingham: Seaholm High School students can contact community services liaison Cheryl Shettel at (248) 203-3702.

Farmington Hills: Call Youth & Family Services at (248) 473-1841 for information about the Mayor's Youth Council or on opportunities to sit alongside adults on city boards.

Northville: The city's Youth Advisory Committee can be reached at (248) 374-0200.

Plymouth: The city's Community Youth Advisory Commission can be reached at (734) 354-3201.

Royal Oak: The city's Youth Assistance office can be reached at (248) 546-8282.

Southfield: Call the city's clerk's office at (248) 796-5150.

Troy: Applications are available on the city's Web site, or by calling the community affairs department (248) 524-1147.

FARMINGTON HILLS -- Concerned that there was nothing to do in their city, a group of students raised $60,000 and turned the unfinished second floor of the Farmington Hills Ice Arena into an attractive teen hangout.

The sleek, 3,500-square-foot space now draws crowds on weekends, thanks to the kids' group called the Mayor's Youth Council.

"I want to make sure that my opinion is heard because if I don't get out there, maybe other people will and I'll lose the chance to make a difference," said Laura Miller, a sophomore who got active partly because "my mom always wants me to sign up for stuff I can put on my college application."

Farmington Hills is one of a growing number of communities that are turning to students for input on how to improve their towns, either by appointing them to formerly adult-only boards or to youth-only advisory committees. Novi this month joined cities such as Northville, Plymouth, Troy and Birmingham in finding new ways to get student input.

For cities, it's a chance to get a younger perspective on issues as diverse as library services, city beautification and historic preservation. For kids, it's a chance to have a say.

"I definitely have some opinions and beliefs that would benefit the city, and I know other kids do, too," said Chris Jodoin, 15, a sophomore at Novi High School who is excited about the opportunity.

"We're the future and what they do right now affects us. We should have a say in it," Jodoin said.

Novi's City Council agreed to allow 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade students to become nonvoting members on four of the city's 15 appointed boards and commissions.

"This is a chance for them to be more civic-minded and be able to participate and share their thoughts on how they want their community to look," said Lynne Paul, Novi councilwoman who pitched the proposal. "I've said many times before that as hard as I try to think like a teenager, I just can't."

Evolving from grief

In Farmington Hills, the growing youth involvement began when a car accident killed classmate Dan Lee in front of the high school. A group of students persuaded the city to install a left-turn sign at 12 Mile and Rollcrest in front of Harrison High School.

"Kids pushed and brought that to the forefront," and adults became more accepting of student input on city matters, said Todd Lipa, the city's director of youth and family services.

In communities where student involvement on boards has developed, school districts often serve as a liaison between the city and the students who want to participate. Students typically apply in writing for a position. Some communities ask students to write an essay about their concerns and how they can assist board members.

Commitments range from quarterly meetings to weekly meetings, depending on the board. And not all students can be counted on to dedicate the time, said David Waller, who has worked with several student advisers during his 11-year tenure on Troy's planning board.

"Showing up -- that's the dilemma. It's not often apparent the level of commitment a student will have," he said. "But regardless, I applaud it. We have to keep trying to impress upon them the value and importance of what we do."

Troy a leader

Troy may be a model for students involved in their community. Students serve on an all-teen Troy Youth Council and can also apply to serve as a nonvoting member of 14 adult boards. The city began appointing kids to adult boards in 1999.

Kids have offered advice on everything from traffic issues near the high schools to entertainment and activities at the Troy Daze festival to an analysis of open space and wetlands within city limits.

The city's two student library board advisers can largely take credit for the library's ongoing initiative to become a wireless hot spot, enabling anyone with a laptop computer to link up to the Internet from anywhere in the 50,000-square-foot library, said library director Brian Stoutenburg.

"They want to be wired all the time," he said. "We love having them because a large part of our clientele is our teenagers and they're traditionally very difficult to serve because, well, we don't know anything about them."

Library board teen advisers Lauren Andreoff, a junior at Detroit Country Day, and Chang Chen, a junior at Troy High School, are vocal and persistent in their desire to see Troy's library become "technologically more avant-garde," as Stoutenburg put it.

"They're maybe not as familiar or comfortable with technology as we are," Andreoff, 16, said of her counterparts on the library board.

She got involved with the adult board because she spends much of her time doing homework or studying at the library.

"Being in a leadership position and being involved makes me feel like I'm doing something to help the world around me," she said. "I've always been interested in what goes on behind the scenes at the library and the things they have to deal with. The community there fits me."

Aiding Birmingham, Plymouth

Familiarity drew Kyle Astrein, 17, a senior at Birmingham Seaholm High School to serve her city's popular downtown. Astrein's family owns Astrein Jewelers and the teenager also works part time at the upscale retail shop Caruso Caruso.

Astrein served on the city's principal shopping district board, which is made up of about 15 retailers and community members. She felt retailers were missing out on the cash teens have to spend, even in the pricey downtown boutiques.

The group was willing to listen to her concerns and Astrein said she could sense a slight change in the downtown vibe after about a year.

"I saw the new advertising around Birmingham move away from being so sophisticated to having a more youthful and broader feel," she said.

In Plymouth, teens have undertaken their biggest challenge -- to design and raise more than $75,000 to replace a toppled fountain in Kellogg Park. Members of the city's youth advisory commission held a design contest and, in February, selected an 11-year-old girl's submission for the design of the new Fountain of Youth, as it has been dubbed. The teens hope to begin fund raising in April.

"It will take time and a lot of money, but it's just weird there without the fountain," said Sarah Pursell, 14, a freshman at Plymouth Salem High School. "We've never done anything this big, so we're pretty excited. We'll do anything to make this happen."

You can reach Amy Lee at (248) 647-8605 or alee@detnews.com.